


Working Out An Epiphany

by OmniscientOranges



Category: Supernatural
Genre: But today is not that day, Dean Winchester Saves Castiel from the Empty, Episode AU: s15e20 Carry On, Episode Fix-It: s15e20 Carry On, Episode: s15e20 Carry On, M/M, maybe one day ill write something that isnt a fix it for this show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:14:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28098249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OmniscientOranges/pseuds/OmniscientOranges
Summary: Cas opens his eyes, and they land in disbelief on Dean. "Dean, what-" the question is cut off momentarily as Dean pulls him up to his feet, "What are you doing here?"Dean grins, "I guess you could say I'm here to grip you tight and raise you from perdition."-Dean gets to do his little speech and save Cas from the empty
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 7
Kudos: 90





	Working Out An Epiphany

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as me drafting a text post about “Moments that the Dean pulling Cas out of the empty scene parallels (in the secret good supernatural in my head)” and I got carried away. Title is from the 15x18 script leaks

Dean gets to the empty. It took 4 months, a spell Sam found buried deep in the bunker's library, and more than one impromptu trip to hell to brainstorm with Rowena about how exactly to make it work - but Dean gets to the empty. 

Cas is lying motionless on the ground. He looks almost peaceful, _almost,_ but it was not the kind of peace he'd earned after all these years. Dean takes Cas' head in his hands and lifts it up off the floor (is it even a floor? Tendrils of the empty cling to the side of Cas' face and break off like, for lack of a better comparison, strings of warm cheese pulling apart. It's gross, all things considered, but Dean's not focused on that right now).

"Hey, hey Cas? Cas, it's me. Come on, wake up."

Cas opens his eyes, and they land in disbelief on Dean. "Dean, what-" the question is cut off momentarily as Dean pulls him up to his feet, "What are you doing here?"

Dean grins, "I guess you could say I'm here to grip you tight and raise you from perdition."

Cas furrows his brow and looks at Dean softly, direct and sincere. "Dean, I made a deal."

"Yeah, you made a stupid deal, and I'm here to break it. So let's get out of here," Dean turns and motions back towards the bright fissure of a portal a few yards away.

Cas shakes his head, "I can't leave."

"What's the matter, man? You-" a look of realization crosses Dean's face, "You don't think you deserve to be saved?"

Cas just swallows and looks down. Dean moves toward him and lays his hand on one of Cas' shoulders, Cas' eyes dart from the floor to look at the contact, then back up at Dean.

"Cas, let me bottom line it for you, I'm not leaving here without you."

"Dean, please, you have to." He needs Dean to leave him, knows that _it's dangerous enough for Dean to be here already and what would be the point of it all if he got trapped here too._

Dean doesn't budge, instead he doubles down. _No more second chances, this is it._ "Look, I- there's something I need to say. And I don't want you to cut me off this time, alright?"

Cas nods, apprehensive, but he wants to hear Dean out. Dean steps back out of Cas' personal space, and Cas moves almost imperceptibly to chase the touch before they settle standing a few feet apart.

Dean takes a breath, and starts. "When we first met back in that barn, I had no idea what I was getting into. I'd never even _met_ an angel before, didn't even think they _existed_. But there you were, and you were-" Dean pauses, remembering back, looking at Cas with tears threatening to spill over his eyes. Vulnerable. "You were unbelievable. You were terrifying, and otherworldly, and- and you were _beautiful_ , and a _total_ jackass." They both laugh at that, it breaks a bit of the tension, but Dean isn't done yet. Isn't done saying all he's had to say.

"And after that, you stuck around. You _always_ stuck around, and you were always there. You're the best friend I've ever had. But I never," Dean swallows, steeling himself, "I never let myself _want_ anything more than that. Even though there was so much that I wanted to have that was different than anything I've had before, I never let myself go there, because I knew if I did-" Dean cuts himself off, scoffs and looks away.

"Dean?" The sound of Cas' voice breaks Dean out of his brief loss for words. He reorients himself, and smirks in spite of, well, everything. 

"You know, you said that knowing me has changed you, but Cas you gotta know - you changed me too. I didn't believe in much of anything before you, couldn't even believe in myself. Hell, I _still_ can't sometimes, but you showed me you didn't have to believe in something, you just had to _be_ it. Just _being_ is enough." Dean pauses again, and he looks at Cas like he's finally figured it out. Figured out what all of it was for, what it all _could be_ for. When he speaks again it's quieter, like it's a whispered secret just for them to hear, even though there isn't a single soul around the two of them for potential miles in either direction. 

"But that doesn't have to be all it is, you can- _we_ can have more than that." Dean scrubs a hand over his face to wipe away the tears and brings his eyes back up to meet Cas'.

"Because, Cas, I love you. _Of course_ I love you, _of course_ I do. I'm sorry it took me so damn long to say it. I'm sorry you didn't know. So please, man," Dean holds out his hand, "Come home with me."

Cas looks at Dean. For a long moment, it's just that. Just Cas, looking wide-eyed at Dean, and Dean, hoping with every part of himself that he got it right this time. Maybe it goes on too long, maybe it doesn't go on long enough. In between that moment and the next, Cas shifts his eyes down to Dean's hand.

Cas reaches out, and takes it.

**Author's Note:**

> And then they live happily ever after and hold hands at farmer's markets on weekends when Cas drags Dean there to go buy 30 dollar jars of artisanal honey.
> 
> Come find me on tumblr, where I am attempting to understand the inner workings of Andrew Dabb's mind: omniscientoranges.tumblr.com


End file.
